Jennie Joseph LM, CPM

Jennie Joseph is a well-respected health advocate for women and newborn babies. A British-trained midwife, Jennie has become one of the world’s most respected midwives and authorities on women’s health in the areas of healthy pregnancies, healthy deliveries, and healthy babies. She’s become a true advocate for systematic reform that puts women and babies first in healthcare before profit, convenience, and the numerous reasons America trails other developed nations in healthy births. Jennie’s common sense approach has won her the attention of global news media and brought her invitations to speak all over the world.

Jennie is the founder and executive director of Commonsense Childbirth Inc. and the creator of The JJ Way®, a common sense approach designed for women and children. She moved to the United States in 1989 and began a journey that has culminated in the formation of an innovative maternal child healthcare system, markedly improving birth outcomes for thousands of women and children.

Jennie firmly believes in patient-centered, woman-centered care and works tirelessly to support the systems, providers, and agencies charged with delivering that type of care. “Until women and their loved ones feel that they have enough knowledge and agency to be part of the decisions around their care and until they have access to the education and support that they are lacking, they will continue to be at risk.”-Jennie Joseph.

Session

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way! When it comes to perinatal health disparities, what’s a doula to do?

The impact of poor perinatal outcomes and racial disparities on women, their families and the community at large remains a major problem for the United States, and reduces our world rankings on infant and maternal mortality to pitiful levels in comparison to other developed nations. This presentation will outline some of the causes and share stories of those who suffer disproportionately due to our broken healthcare system and the social and racial determinants of health. We will discuss how doulas and other front-line perinatal health workers have positively transformed the incidence of poor birth outcomes through the grassroots National Perinatal Task Force, and all but eradicated low birth weight and prematurity amongst high-risk populations in Central Florida and around the USA.